In a recent and bold cybersecurity breach, the official Twitter account of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was hijacked with the intent of promoting cryptocurrency. The hacker, whose identity remains unknown, used the SEC’s influential platform to falsely announce the approval of Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) on national securities exchanges.
This deceptive tweet, appearing legitimate and coming from a highly credible source, had an immediate and dramatic effect on the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin’s value surged momentarily, rising from around $46,000 to nearly $48,000. However, this increase was short-lived.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler quickly responded to the situation through his personal Twitter account. He clarified that the SEC’s account was compromised and firmly stated, “the SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.” Following this, the SEC regained control of their Twitter account, restating Gensler’s message and removing the hacker’s tweet, which led to a decrease in Bitcoin’s value to approximately $45,000.
The SEC confirmed the incident, announcing, “The SEC has determined that there was unauthorized access to and activity on the @SECGov x.com account.” The breach is currently under thorough investigation by the SEC, in collaboration with law enforcement and government partners, to understand the full extent of the incident and to implement measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.
This incident underscores the significant influence of social media on financial markets and the critical need for robust cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive information and prevent misinformation.
